Punishing heat waves gripped three continents on Tuesday, breaking records in cities around the Northern Hemisphere less than two weeks after the Earth recorded what scientists said were likely its hottest days in modern history.

周二，酷暑席卷三個大洲，打破了諸多北半球城市的高溫記錄，而就在不到兩周前，科學家才稱地球出現了可能是現代歷史上最熱的幾天。

Firefighters in Greece scrambled to put out wildfires, as parched conditions raised the risk of more blazes throughout Europe. Beijing logged another day of 95-degree heat, and people in Hangzhou, another Chinese city, compared the choking conditions to a sauna. From the Middle East to the American Southwest, delivery drivers, airport workers and construction crews labored under blistering skies. Those who could stay indoors did.

希臘的消防員緊急出動撲滅野火，炎熱天氣也增加了整個歐洲的火災風險。北京又迎來35度高溫的一天，另一座中國城市杭州的居民則將這種悶熱形容為桑拿天。從中東到美國西南部，送貨司機、機場工作人員和建筑施工隊在酷熱之下勞作。能待在室內的人都不再出門。

The temperatures, afflicting so much of the world all at once, were a withering reminder that climate change is a global crisis, driven by human-made forces: the emissions of heat-trapping gases, mainly caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

世界上如此多地區同時遭遇高溫天氣，是在尖銳地提醒人們，氣候變化是一場全球危機，并受到人為因素的推動：主要由燃燒化石燃料引起的溫室氣體排放。

The planet has warmed about 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the 19th century and will continue to grow hotter until humans essentially stop burning coal, oil and gas, scientists say. The warmer temperatures contribute to extreme weather events and help make periods of extreme heat more frequent, longer and more intense.

科學家表示，地球自19世紀以來已經升溫約1攝氏度，而且還將繼續變暖，直到人類停止燃燒煤炭、石油和天然氣。氣溫升高會導致極端天氣，并使極端高溫期變得更頻繁、更漫長也更劇烈。

Also affecting this year’s conditions is the return of El Ni?o, a cyclical weather pattern that, depending on the sea surface temperature and the pressure of the air above it, can originate in the Pacific and have wide-ranging effects on weather around the world.

影響今年氣候的還有厄爾尼諾現象的回歸，這種周期性天氣模式取決于海面溫度以及海上氣壓，它可能來自太平洋，會對全球各地的天氣產生廣泛影響。

For hundreds of millions of people on Tuesday, the heat was hard to escape. In the United States, Phoenix broke a nearly half-century-old record on Tuesday, with the city’s 19th consecutive day of temperatures above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius). Elsewhere around the country, hot and humid conditions were expected to worsen along the Gulf Coast and throughout the Southeast.

對于數以億計的人們而言，周二的高溫無處可避。在美國，菲尼克斯連續19天氣溫超過43.3攝氏度，打破了近半世紀以來的高溫記錄。而在美國其他地方，墨西哥灣沿岸和整個東南部地區預計將會更加濕熱。

Wildfires raged on for yet another week in Canada, having burned a staggering 25 million acres so far this year, an area roughly the size of Kentucky. With more than a month of peak fire season to go, 2023 has already eclipsed Canada’s annual record, from 1989.

加拿大的野火又持續了一周，今年到目前為止野火已蔓延多達上千萬公頃的土地，大約相當于整個肯塔基州。距離火災高峰季節結束還有一個月時間，但加拿大2023年的火災頻率已經超過了自1989年以來的年度記錄。

Fires also forced evacuations in villages south, west and north of Athens, burning an estimated 7,400 acres of forest in Greece despite aerial water bombardments to bring the blazes under control.

大火還迫使雅典南部、西部和北部的村莊進行了疏散，盡管通過航空滅火控制了火勢，但希臘仍有約3000公頃的森林被燒毀。

節選自《紐約時報》：Heat Waves Grip 3 Continents as Climate Change Warms Earth

1. grip 表示（情緒或形勢）對…產生強烈影響

例：Terrorism has gripped the country for the past two years.

兩年來恐怖主義一直籠罩著這個國家。

2. scramble 艱難地（或倉促地）完成，常用搭配為scramble to do sth.

例：They were scrambling to give the impression that the situation was under control. 他們急于給人一種形勢已得到控制的印象。

3. wide-ranging 范圍大的，廣泛的

例：a wide-ranging discussion 內容廣泛的討論

4. rage (on) 表示（暴風雨、戰斗、爭論等）猛烈地繼續；激烈進行。

例：The battle raged on(= continued). 戰斗仍在激烈進行。

5. bombardment 表示轟炸，轟擊。常用搭配為aerial/artillery/naval bombardment（空中/炮火/海上轟炸）

例：The bombardment continued for a terrible nine hours.

轟炸可怕地持續了九個小時。

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